Hyatt properties in Hong Kong win 2 accolades at the ESGBusiness Awards 2023
Its partnership with Zero Foodprint Asia showed the company's purpose of care and commitment to caring for the planet by supporting local farmers.
Hyatt properties in Hong Kong bagged the Sustainable Agriculture Award - Hong Kong and the Collaborative Partnership Award - Hong Kong at the inaugural ESGBusiness Awards 2023 for their efforts to support local farmers through their partnership with the local charity Zero Foodprint Asia (ZFPA).
Under the partnership, 12 food and beverage outlets across the four Hong Kong-based Hyatt Hotels, namely Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui, Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Sha Tin, and Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, implemented a 1% pledge on their guest bills, which is directly linked to ZFPA’s restore fund.
The funds are dispersed through grants awarded to farmers annually and are paired with Technical Assistant Providers or Soil Health Advisors to help them shift to a regenerative farming practice.
From June to August, the four Hyatt hotels have contributed around US$58,218.67 (HK$456,617) to the fund. The hotels will continue to expand on this partnership by increasing the number of restaurants partnered with ZFPA, thereby increasing contributions towards farmers in Hong Kong. This initiative is part of the wider United States-based Zero Foodprint non-profit network with outposts in Germany and Nordic countries.
In Hong Kong, farmers who received grants from the fund have seen pest reductions and increased crop yields. For one, Farmer Pat Fan is now able to purchase and use Trichoderma (a natural fungus beneficial to crops that is commercially available as fungal spores) to treat tomato seeds and seedlings prior to sowing them into the fields. This has drastically reduced the bacterial wilt diseases that often plague tomato crops.
One beneficiary, Farmer Cheong, said he harvested over 4,000 kilogrammes of crops in March, which is a large harvest compared to previous years. Pests, whilst not completely gone, are now manageable.
As such, Farmer Cheong finally made a profit after more than 20 years of losses due to reduced spending on fertilisers and fewer crops lost due to pests.
Meanwhile, Farmer Eva had a soil health monitoring trial on her farm in line with the Soil Health Institute’s protocols. Lab tests have shown results of 7.66% ± 0.30 soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration on average, which is considered very high for a vegetable farm in a subtropical region, and an aggregate stability of over 80%, meaning it is very well-structured according to the Ohio State University Agronomic Crops Network.
The inaugural ESGBusiness Awards acknowledges the initiatives of businesses that demonstrate outstanding commitment and achievement in ESG practices. It recognises companies that are at the forefront of achieving sustainable development goals, embracing innovation, and making a meaningful impact in areas such as climate change mitigation, resource conservation, social responsibility, and ethical governance.
The ESGBusiness Awards is presented by ESGBusiness. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2024 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding commitment and achievement in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].
